Hikikomori: Recent Episodes
Vincent Kenny
Sit back and enjoy a weird and shocking story from Japan, both from recent and far history, as researched and told by Vincent.
Masaru Emoto, for most of his life, was an ordinary middle-manager for a newspaper. Then one day he stepped out of the shadows to announce that he had discovered a new fundamental force in the universe - emotional water memory.
Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Skeptical Inquirer - https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/a-grain-of-truth-recreating-dr-emotos-rice-experiment/
- Medium blog by James Donner - https://medium.com/@jamesbonner_63058/masaru-emoto-our-spiritual-enlightenment-e6999cf45fde
- Guardian article on What the Bleep Do We Know? - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/may/16/g2.science
- Good Therapy - positive intentions - https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mindfulness-matters-dr-emoto-studies-reveal-power-of-positive-emotion-012914
- The Wellness Enterprise - https://thewellnessenterprise.com/emoto/
- The Irish Times - https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-pseudoscience-of-creating-beautiful-or-ugly-water-1.574583
- Neurologica article on Emoto - https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-pseudoscience-of-masaru-emoto/
- Rational Wiki - https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto
- Hado World - https://hado.com/ihm/
- Google Patents - Automated computerized magnetic resonance detector and analyzer
- The website for Masaru Emoto
- The website for the Emoto Peace Project
- Wikipedia - Masaru Emoto
- The Cut - That's Not How Physical Reality Works, Gwyneth
We continue covering the environmental disaster that resulted in Minamata Disease, how those responsible knowingly continued to harm all living things around them with mercury, and the legacy that the dozens of mass poisonings by corporations left on Japan
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Ministry of the Environment - Minamata Disease
- Minamata, by W Eugene Smith and Aileen M Smith
- National Institute of Minamata Disease - What We Have Learned from the Experience of Minamata Disease
- Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo, by Nick Kapur (2018)
- The Lancet - Japan remembers Minamata, by J McCurry
- PubMed - Minamata disease: methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution, by M Harada
- Kumamoto Prefectural Government - Minamata Disease for Beginners
- Wikipedia - Four Big Pollution Diseases
- Wikipedia - Itai-Itai Disease
- Wikipedia - Minamata Disease
- Wikipedia - Niigata Minamata Disease
We start a 2-parter on what might be the most terrifying man-made environmental disaster in Japanese history, namely the purposeful, prolonged and secret dumping of toxic waste into coastal waters by multiple Japanese chemical companies, some of which are still around and thriving.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Ministry of the Environment - Minamata Disease
- Minamata, by W Eugene Smith and Aileen M Smith
- National Institute of Minamata Disease - What We Have Learned from the Experience of Minamata Disease
- Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo, by Nick Kapur (2018)
- The Lancet - Japan remembers Minamata, by J McCurry
- PubMed - Minamata disease: methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution, by M Harada
- Kumamoto Prefectural Government - Minamata Disease for Beginners
- Wikipedia - Four Big Pollution Diseases
- Wikipedia - Itai-Itai Disease
- Wikipedia - Minamata Disease
- Wikipedia - Niigata Minamata Disease
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Ryukyu Shimpo - Editorial: Sixty years after Miyamori Elementary School plane crash, the dangerous conditions have not changed
- New York Times - 3 Dead Marines and a Secret of Wartime Okinawa
- Guardian - US air force Osprey crash wreckage and remains of five crew found off Japan
- Wikipedia - Protests of US military presence in Okinawa
- The Interpreter - Okinawa’s vocal anti-US military base movement
- Associated Press - Japan’s top court orders Okinawa to allow a divisive government plan to build US military runways
The continued US military presence in Okinawa has long been a complex and thorny issue, particularly for the locals who frequently suffer the consequences of their occupation in 1945 never quite ending.
We look at the moments over the past 80 years that have proven pivotal to the anti-base movement in Okinawa.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Ryukyu Shimpo - Editorial: Sixty years after Miyamori Elementary School plane crash, the dangerous conditions have not changed
- New York Times - 3 Dead Marines and a Secret of Wartime Okinawa
- Guardian - US air force Osprey crash wreckage and remains of five crew found off Japan
- Wikipedia - Protests of US military presence in Okinawa
- The Interpreter - Okinawa’s vocal anti-US military base movement
- Associated Press - Japan’s top court orders Okinawa to allow a divisive government plan to build US military runways
Following from the high-profile case of Mai Watanabe, aka Itadaki-Joshi, we look at the reason why she conned millions of yen - to support her favourite host.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japan Times - How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt
- Asahi Shimbun - Host-addicted ‘sugar baby’ gets 9-year prison term for fraud
- Asahi Shimbun - ‘Host crazy’ women fall into debt hell through pay-later system
- Mainichi Shimbun - Japan host clubs' shady dealings that can lead women to prostitution must stop
- Japan Times - How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt
- Guardian - ‘Host clubs’ in Tokyo force women into sex work to pay off huge debts
- South China Morning Post - From ‘princess’ to prostitute: how Japan’s host clubs are driving young women into debt and sex work
- Japan Times (Jake Adelstein) - Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking
- News on Japan - Tokyo tax office scandal: Three female employees busted working in nightclubs
- Kyodo News - Ex-Kabukicho host club worker allegedly forced customer into prostitution
- Tokyo Reporter - Tokyo cops bust Korean hostess club frequented by celebs on immigration charges
- Nil Nilgiree (YouTube) - The Dark Reality of Japanese Host Clubs
- The Week - Why Japan is clamping down on host clubs
- The Economist - The controversial cult of the host club in Japan
- Japan Times - Japan's police crack down on host clubs
- Wikipedia - Host and hostess clubs
- Host x Host
- Institute for Asian Studies - Selling Intimacy under Post-Industrial Capitalism: An Ethnography of Japanese Host Clubs
Today we look at the evolution of "compensated dating" into its modern form, "Papa-Katsu", where women seek out sugar daddies as a form of sex work. We also consider the con-artist Mai Watanabe, known more widely as Itadaki Joshi, who made headlines across the world for her merciless acts of fraud.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japan Times - 'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
- Asahi Shimbun - Host-addicted ‘sugar baby’ gets 9-year prison term for fraud
- Business Insider - Japanese "sugar baby" gets 9 years for scamming men out of 155 million yen
- Fortune - Japanese ‘sugar baby’ sent to prison for swindling men out of $1 million and selling a guide on how to do it: ‘She took advantage of feelings for her’
- Unseen Japan - “Sugar Baby Riri” – and Her Host – Face Jail Time for Fraud
- Japan Today - Foreign women catching on to 'papa-katsu' as a means of economic survival
- YouTube - Japanalysis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDGv2DvJXg
- YouTube - Why Why Japan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93VdR2Q6MIE
Content Warning: Mass Murder
It's rough.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Sankei News - The suspect in the attack, Uematsu, was prejudiced against people with disabilities
- Sankei News - Residents rescue tied up staff members and cut cable ties with scissors to prevent further damage
- News PostSever - Suspect Uematsu, who apprenticed to a tattoo artist, was excommunicated after talking about killing everyone
- Mainichi Shimbun - Sagamihara murder - Victim's sister: “I can't reveal the name”
- Mainichi Shimbun - 3 arrested for alleged habitual abuse of disabled Osaka Pref. care home resident who died
- Nikkan Gendai - “I admire strong people” An acquaintance talks about the suspect who murdered 45 people in Sagamihara
- Tokyo Shimbun - Testimonies of the Sagamihara Massacre Incident: The bright central presence “Sato-kun”
- Aljazeera - Ex-employee stabs 19 people to death in Japan care home
- Kyodo News - Japan care home requires sterilization of mentally disabled couples
- BBC News - Tokyo Paralympics: The lowdown on being disabled in Japan
- Asahi Shimbun - U.N. committee urges Japan to revise laws for disabled people
- WION - Japan's disabled lawmakers fight to end the invisibility of people with disabilities
- Tokyo Weekender - Why is Japan Still Biased Against People with Disabilities?
- Science Direct - Disability policies in Japan and Sweden: A comparative perspective
- TokyoDev - Living with a disability in Japan
- Tofugu - Hidden No More: What Happens When The Intellectually Disabled Join Japanese Society
- Japan Times - 90% in Japan feel discrimination against disabled exists, survey finds
- Life Where I’m From X - Living in Japan with a Physical Disability
- Wikipedia - Sagamihara Stabbings
Following on from the previous episode's theme of eugenics in Japan, we look at how individuals who express eugenic beliefs can impact the world around them in horrific, horrific ways.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Sankei News - The suspect in the attack, Uematsu, was prejudiced against people with disabilities
- Sankei News - Residents rescue tied up staff members and cut cable ties with scissors to prevent further damage
- News PostSever - Suspect Uematsu, who apprenticed to a tattoo artist, was excommunicated after talking about killing everyone
- Mainichi Shimbun - Sagamihara murder - Victim's sister: “I can't reveal the name”
- Mainichi Shimbun - 3 arrested for alleged habitual abuse of disabled Osaka Pref. care home resident who died
- Nikkan Gendai - “I admire strong people” An acquaintance talks about the suspect who murdered 45 people in Sagamihara
- Tokyo Shimbun - Testimonies of the Sagamihara Massacre Incident: The bright central presence “Sato-kun”
- Aljazeera - Ex-employee stabs 19 people to death in Japan care home
- Kyodo News - Japan care home requires sterilization of mentally disabled couples
- BBC News - Tokyo Paralympics: The lowdown on being disabled in Japan
- Asahi Shimbun - U.N. committee urges Japan to revise laws for disabled people
- WION - Japan's disabled lawmakers fight to end the invisibility of people with disabilities
- Tokyo Weekender - Why is Japan Still Biased Against People with Disabilities?
- Science Direct - Disability policies in Japan and Sweden: A comparative perspective
- TokyoDev - Living with a disability in Japan
- Tofugu - Hidden No More: What Happens When The Intellectually Disabled Join Japanese Society
- Japan Times - 90% in Japan feel discrimination against disabled exists, survey finds
- Life Where I’m From X - Living in Japan with a Physical Disability
- Wikipedia - Sagamihara Stabbings
In 1948 the Japanese Government, still under firm control by the Allied occupation forces, wrote into law the Eugenic Protection Law. While this law was similar to the myriad of pro-eugenic laws across the world, Japan's eugenics law is notable for having been only repealed in the 90s.
Today's guest is Kieran Bennett! You can follow him via his Twitter profile, or check out his portfolio of video editing work at kgbennett.myportfolio.com.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Human Rights Watch - Japan: Compelled Sterilization of Transgender People
- Human Rights Watch - Japan Court Rules Against Mandatory Transgender Sterilization
- Japan Times - Some duped into sterilization surgery under eugenics law, parliament report says
- Japan Times - Lawyers set up hotlines for victims of 1948-1996 eugenics law
- AP - Japan’s top court strikes down required sterilization surgery to officially change gender
- Takashi Tsuchiya of Osaka City University - Eugenic Sterilizations in Japan and Recent Demands for Apology: A Report
- Asahi Shimbun - Tokyo court rejects bid for compensation over sterilization
- Asahi Shimbun - Court denies compensation for unconstitutional sterilization
- Guardian - Japan court awards damages to victims of forced sterilisation for first time
- Guardian - Anger in Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilised
- Independent - Japan to pay compensation to people sterilised under eugenics law modelled on Nazi programmes
- Independent - Japanese woman forcibly sterilised as teenager suing government for breach of human rights
- BBC News - Japan sterilisation law victims included nine-year-olds
- Huffington Post - Japan Publishes Report Detailing 25,000 Forced Sterilizations On Citizens, Including 9-Year-Olds
- Time - Japan Apologizes To Victims Of Forced Sterilization And Promises Compensation
- Wikipedia - Eugenics in Japan
We made it! The completely arbitrary milestone of 100 that's solely meaningful to humans because of our bias towards base 10! To celebrate, here's a nice story about an island covered in the cutest rabbits you've ever seen, also a poison gas factory.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Gateway to Rabbit Island
- Live video feed of Rabbit Island
- Hiroshima for Global Peace - Okunoshima
- Travel Japan - Okunoshima
- Wikipedia - Okunoshima
- Wikipedia - Itsukushima
We continue the most famous and baffling fraud case of modern Japan with the tale of Mamoru Samuragochi. This week we examine exactly how the supposed deaf composer was able to get away with presenting another person's compositions as his own for 18 years.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The New Republic: Japan's Deaf Composer Wasn't What He Seemed
- Classic FM: The Composer Who Was Once Dubbed "Japan's Beethoven"
- Time Magazine: 2001 Interview with Samuragochi
- Wall Street Journal: Music Critic's Suspicions Led to Composer's Downfall
- Inverse: "Clowns farting": The wild story behind Resident Evil's worst soundtrack
- Independent: Japanese 'Beethoven' Mamoru Samuragochi admits faking deafness
- CNN: Uproar as ‘Japanese Beethoven’ Mamoru Samuragochi exposed as a fraud
- Suzi the Sphere Hunter: Onimusha Samurai Survival Horror
- Wikipedia: Mamoru Samuragochi
Born as a second-generation Hibakusha, that is to say a child of Hiroshima A-bomb survivors, Mamoru Samuragochi faced hardship, prejudice and increasing illness throughout his life. Despite these enormous setbacks, he became one of the most respected and successful musical composers in Japan, despite becoming almost entirely deaf.
He was also a liar.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The New Republic: Japan's Deaf Composer Wasn't What He Seemed
- Classic FM: The Composer Who Was Once Dubbed "Japan's Beethoven"
- Time Magazine: 2001 Interview with Samuragochi
- Wall Street Journal: Music Critic's Suspicions Led to Composer's Downfall
- Inverse: "Clowns farting": The wild story behind Resident Evil's worst soundtrack
- Independent: Japanese 'Beethoven' Mamoru Samuragochi admits faking deafness
- Wikipedia: Mamoru Samuragochi
Today, the JWs have as many as 250,000 adherents in Japan, despite having an extremely rocky start in the country in the early 1930s. In recent years, the JWs have experienced controversy in the media and courts once again, this time for serious allegations of abuse of its own members and children.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japan Times: Children of Jehovah’s Witnesses submit report detailing sexual abuse
- Investigator Magazine: JUNZO AKASHI – A Watchtower Victim
- Asahi Shimbun: 159 report being sexually abused as Jehovah’s Witnesses
- Mainichi Shimbun: 3rd-gen Jehovah's Witness in Japan opens up about dark past before opposition parties
- Japan Times: Japan lawyers form group to support children of Jehovah's Witnesses followers
- Metropolis: The Door Knockers - Jehovah’s Witnesses in Japan
- Asahi Shimbun: Ex-Jehovah’s Witness opens up about trauma brought by faith
- JWLeaks.org: Jehovah’s Witnesses face ‘worrying development’ on the treatment of children in Japan
- Yomiuri Shimbun: Japan Lawyers to Report on Religion-Based Refusal of Blood Transfusions for Kids
- EWTN Global Catholic Television: Charles Taze Russell
- YouTube: Senator Mizuho Uehara addressing Parliament over the issue of the JWs and their alleged abuse of children
- Twitter: Kotaro Tanaka’s account
- Wikipedia: History of Jehovah's Witnesses
When the AIDs epidemic began tearing its way through gay communities throughout the world, there was almost no effort made by governments to address the escalating health crisis whatsoever.
Even when heat-treated blood became available, pharmaceutical companies were strangely reluctant to offer these newer, safer products, particularly in South America and Asia, but no country was quite as ruthlessly self-defeating than in Japan, which created an extraordinary conspiracy to put corporate profits above the lives of their citizens
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Qanon Anonymous, Episode 221: Plasma Vampires & the Blood Business feat Kathleen McLaughlin
- New York Times: 2003, Beyer Exposed (paywall)
- New York Times: Japanese Suits on H.I.V.-Tainted Blood Settled (paywall)
- LA Times: Japan Official Apologises in AIDS Scandal
- Nature Medicine: Japanese officials were aware of HIV in blood products
- Washington Post: Japanese Arrested in Blood Scandal
- CBS News: Japan - Convictions In Blood Scandal
- National Library of Medicine: Haemophilia patients launch action against Bayer over contaminated blood products
- Wikipedia: HIV/AIDs in Japan
- Wikipedia: Green Cross
- Wikipedia: Contaminated Haemophilia Blood Products
- JP Wikipedia: Contaminated Blood Scandal
Weather News Live is a 24-hour a day stream dedicated to reporting the weather... sort of. It has gained huge popularity on the internet over the last few years with live shows hosted by "Casters", young women who have attracted huge fanbases.
By far the most popular has been Saya Hiyama who, in mid-2023, found herself at the centre of a controversy normally only reserved for those in the Idol industry.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japanalysis: Japan’s Ridiculous Weatherwoman Fiasco
- Saya Hiyama clip 1
- Saya Hiyama clip 2
- Japan Times: Weather forecaster Saya Hiyama's viral moments say a lot about fame in Japan
- Oricon News - Saya announces she’s dating
- Parental bonding in retrospect and adult attachment style: A comparative study between Spanish, Italian and Japanese cultures. Hoenicka et al. (2022)
- Japanese national well-being survey shows that living alone results in lower satisfaction and affects other relationships, while social networking service usage is related to life satisfaction: A cross-sectional study. Miyaki et al. (2022)
- Aini: Parasocial relationships in East Asia: A look into obsession
- Time: In Defence of Parasocial Relationship
- Parasocial Interactions and Relationships in Early Adolesence
We end our series on Miyoko Sumida by looking at possibly her most disturbing family invasion with the Oe household, as well as how this eventually led to her accidental arrest and the fall of the Sumida gang.
We also find out how the Yakuza hides bodies (allegedly).
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Unknown Misandry
- Japan Times - the Piranha Family
- Rhetorica - the Piranha Family
- Murderpedia - Miyoko Sumida
- JP Wikipedia - The Amagasaki Incident
We continue covering the disturbing crimes of Miyoko Sumida and her family, as she infiltrates and rips apart two more families. Today we look at how she added her loyal enforcer, Masanori Ri, and her presumed heir, Tanimoto Rui, to her organisation.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Unknown Misandry
- Japan Times - the Piranha Family
- Rhetorica - the Piranha Family
- Murderpedia - Miyoko Sumida
- JP Wikipedia - The Amagasaki Incident
Miyoko Sumida was a psychopath with a disturbing ability to manipulate others for her own ends. She was also seemingly obsessed with keeping other people by making them members of her family though marriage and adoption. In a horrifying 25-year career of criminal gang activity and serial murder, Sumida became more cult leader than yakuza.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Unknown Misandry
- Japan Times - the Piranha Family
- Rhetorica - the Piranha Family
- Murderpedia - Miyoko Sumida
- JP Wikipedia - The Amagasaki Incident
Yoshikazu Suzuki was a perennially-failing music shop salesman, and in the early 90s his debt had amounted to an astronomical level. His plan to get himself out of this debt was to rise above this, literally, by following in the footsteps of Lawnchair Larry.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
In April of 2018, the writer Elif Batuman had an article published in The New Yorker, titled "Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry". It explored a cultural phenomenon in Japan, that of agencies where one could hire an actor to perform in a social interaction that would be otherwise awkward or impossible.
It became such a popular and celebrated article that it would win the National Magazine Award for that year.
Unfortunately, it was also based entirely on bullshit.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- New Yorker: Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry
- The New Republic: How the New Yorker Fell into the “Weird Japan” Trap
- Wall Street Journal: New Yorker Re-Examines Article on Japanese Family Rental Service
- AFAR: What it’s Like to Rent a Friend in Tokyo
- Wikipedia: Elif Batuman
- Wikipedia: Rental Family Service
The Glico-Morinaga Case began in 1984, when the CEO of the Glico Corporation was kidnapped, naked from his home during a bath. While that kidnapping resolved itself fairly rapidly, what followed was a campaign of fear across Japan, as a mysterious organisation began threatening to poison the public's food.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Singularity Hub: New Japanese Pop Idol Shocks Fans
- UPI: Candy Tycoon kidnapped naked from bath
- Atlas Obscura: The 1980's Crime Ring that Poisoned Japan's Candy and Never Got Caught
- The Glico website
- Wikipedia: Aimi Eguchi
- Wikipedia: The Glico-Morinaga Case
Content Warning: Murder.
In the months after the Osaka Dog-Lover Serial Murders ended, but before the perpetrator of that case was caught, a completely separate but weirdly similar case occurred in Saitama. Gen Sekine, a fairly successful dog breeder and utter psychopath, decided that the best way to dig himself out of financial trouble was to kill his way out.
Today's guest is Cassie! You can find her via her Twitter. Also be sure to check out her Vtuber persona, Sleep Panda Mei, who streams on Twitch!
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Independent - Dog breeder suspected of killing clients
- S. A. Ozbourne - The pet shop owner who killed and disposed of his customers
- Japan Times - Couple handed death sentence over poisoning of four
- Fuji TV - Kazama's son confesses his mother's crimes
- Wikipedia - Gen Sekine
Content Warning: Murder
We return to murder with the serial murders that took place in Osaka in 1992. Over a period of 4 months, the ultimate fail-son Yoshinori Ueda used a chemical used to euthanise dogs to subdue and murder 5 people.
Today's guest is Cassie! You can find her via her Twitter. Also be sure to check out her Vtuber persona, Sleep Panda Mei, who streams on Twitch!
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japan Times: Death sentence upheld for Ueda
- United Press International article
- Wikipedia: Yoshinori Ueda
- YouTube: Archives of Pain
Today we explore the working class industrial art movement called "Dekotora", where truckers decorated their vehicles in outrageous and totally bitchin' styles. We also visit a modern day comparison to Dekotora, the phenomenon of "Itasha", or "painful cars"...
If you want to see a gallery of the vehicles we're talking about today, check out this unlocked Patreon Post with all the relevent pics.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- CNN: Dekotora, the Kitchsy World of Japan’s Pimped Up Trucks
- Wikipedia: Torakku Yarou
- Wikipedia: Dekotora
- SoraNews24: Dekotora NFTs
- The Itasha Sub-Reddit
The last couple of episodes were pretty rough, right? Here's something with relatively few problematic elements, Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid sensation!
Today's guest is Mike! You can find him on Twitter at his handle @tokkan!
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- VOCALOID Fandom
- W Magazine
- CLASH - Meet Hatsune Miku
- Nippon.com
- Miku Expo
- Crunchyroll - Politician uses Miku for campaign
- Unseen Japan - The Hatsune Miku Affair
- Wikipedia - Hatsune Miku
Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Violence, Necrophilia, Cannibalism.
We continue our exploration of Issei Sagawa's life after his 1981 murder of Renée Hartevelt. While you might think that Sagawa would never see the light of day again for his horrific crimes, he was set free, and he spent the rest of his life being a horrible little shit.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Pink Eiga
- Wikipedia - Pink Film
- Murderpedia - Issei Sagawa
- Vice - Japanese Cannibal Who Got Away With Eating and Raping a Dutch Woman Is Dead
- YouTube - Vice documentary on Issei Sagawa
- All That's Interesting - Issei Sagawa
- Wikipedia - Issei Sagawa
Content Warning: Sex, Violence, Necrophilia, Cannibalism.
Issei Sagawa was a highly-educated, intelligent and repressed man. His sexual fetish, unfortunately, was cannibalism, and years of fantasizing and planning led to his 1981 murder of Renée Hartevelt in Paris.
After his arrest, however, the story just gets weirder.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Pink Eiga
- Wikipedia - Pink Film
- Murderpedia - Issei Sagawa
- Vice - Japanese Cannibal Who Got Away With Eating and Raping a Dutch Woman Is Dead
- YouTube - Vice documentary on Issei Sagawa
- All That's Interesting - Issei Sagawa
- Wikipedia - Issei Sagawa
In the north of Japan's central island there is a small, non-descript place called Shingo Village. The only thing about it that sets it apart from the hundreds of other tiny villages in the area is that it purports to be the true final resting place of Jesus Christ. Tug on this string and a whole bunch of ancient aliens stuff comes tumbling out.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Smithsonian Magazine
- Japan Today
- Japan Times
- Le Monde
- BBC News
- The Association for the Study of the Takenouchi Documents
Content Warning: Natural Disaster and Genocide.
On the 1st September, 1923, a megathrust earthquake hit the Kanto Plain, resulting in a catastrophic loss of life. While one would think that tornados made of fire would offer the most horror from this event, the behaviour of the Kanto populace, police and government in the aftermath would be far more disturbing.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923
- Smithsonian Magazine
- Britannica
- The Great Kantō Earthquake and the Chimera of National Reconstruction in Japan - J. Charles Schencking (2013)
- Wikipedia - Great Kanto Earthquake
- Wikipedia - The Kanto Massacre
Content Warning: Sex Trafficking and Exploitation.
Even before the end of WWII, the Japanese civilian government were preparing for the arrival of the occupying US troops. First and foremost, before any security of basic needs, they determined that they needed to preserve the purity of the Japanese race. To this end, they created a vast network of patriotic brothels...
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
As recommended by Hannah at the end of the episode, check out these feminist Instagram users to wash the taste of Babysan out of your mouth: Laura Bates, fuck_patriarchy, beam_me_up_softboi
Sources:
- Rape and War: The US Experience - The Phora
- Japan's Comfort Women - Toshiyuki Tanaka (2003)
- 3 Dead Marines and a Secret of Wartime Okinawa - New York Times
- Babysan: A Private Look at The Japanese Occupation - Bill Hume (1953)
- The Recreation and Amusement Association - Wikipedia
When Daisuke was invited to a dinner anonymously, he had little idea that the meeting would result in the most joyous moments of his life... but would flat-out ruin the rest of it. After marrying into a multi-national vinegar-based corporation, he found himself at the center of a sinister plot to wrest control over his own son away from him.
Today's guest is Jon Combey! You can find himon Twitter @JonCombey, and his recent limited series on Japanese culture as understood through film can be found @JapanHistorypod.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy!
Sources:
- The Times (Paywall) - I Married the Branston Pickle Heiress
- BBC - Pickle Demand Rises after Fire
- Mizkan
- Daisuke Nakano's YouTube channel
- Daisuke Nakano's Twitter
- Blog by Daisuke Nakano
Content Warning: Child Murder, Necrophilia
We continue with the utterly heinous crimes of Tsutomu Miyazaki. After his first murder of a child, he entered a kind of prolonged berserker mode, increasing the depravity of his actions, harassing the families of his victims and even taunting the public, the press and the police. And, when he was finally caught, he would blame it all on an alternate persona - the "Rat Man".
Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page.
Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. Enjoy!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Murderpedia - Tsutomu Miyazaki
- LA Times - Article on Miyazaki from 1989
- Fumiya Hitotsubashi - The Miyazaki Tsutomu Incident -Painted Scenario- (2001)
- Joe Turner - The Myth of Miyazaki's Hands
- Charles T Whipple - The Silencing of the Lambs
- Wikipedia
Tsutomu Miyazaki was a serial murderer of children, active for about 10 months from August 1988. It's a story that has been heavily misrepresented in western media, particularly in regards to Miyazaki's disability, but the real story alone is enough to chill to the bone.
Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Murderpedia - Tsutomu Miyazaki
- LA Times - Article on Miyazaki from 1989
- Fumiya Hitotsubashi - The Miyazaki Tsutomu Incident -Painted Scenario- (2001)
- Joe Turner - The Myth of Miyazaki's Hands
- Charles T Whipple - The Silencing of the Lambs
- Wikipedia
It's finally here. This is how and why Shinzo Abe was assassinated, and the unexpected failure to deify him after his death.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Tobias Harris - The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan
- CNN - Tetsuya Yamagami, the assassin
- Reuters - Abe assassin given psyche evaluation
- Asahi Shimbun - Protests over state funeral of Shinzo Abe
- Guardian - Opposition to state funeral
- Daily Beast - Assassination sheds light on links between UC and LDP
- Independent - Trump gives speech at UC 9/11 conference
- Nikkei Asia - Japanese politicians tied to UC
- BBC News - Obituary of Shinzo Abe
- BBC News - Man sets himself on fire in protest of state funeral
- Wikipedia - Shinzo Abe
- Wikipedia - Assassination of Shinzo Abe
In this episode we look at the continuing rise of ultranationalist ideology in Japanese politics under Shinzo Abe, including his membership in the secretive and fascistic Nippon Kaigai organisation, his expansion of the JSDF and his fiddling around behind the scenes during the Tokyo Olympics, despite his supposed retirement.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Tobias Harris - The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan
- Guardian - Shinzo Abe questioned over the Cherry Blossom scandal
- Guardian - Keigo Oyamada resigns as Olympic composer
- Daily Beast - Hateful Olympic fiasco caused by Shinzo Abe
- Reuters - Japan PM uses offbeat PR blitz to rescue ratings
- Wikipedia - Shinzo Abe
We continue our journey through the life and death of Shinzo Abe. Today we look at his remarkable political comeback in 2011, along with his the incidents that never seemed to tarnish his popularity, particularly his horrific historical revisionism, and the Moritomo Gakuen scandal...
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Tobias Harris - The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan
- Asahi Shimbun - Key Questions on Moritomo Scandal
- The Times - Moritomo Gakuen Scandal
- Guardian - Moritomo Gakuen Scandal
- Japan Times - Moritomo Gakuen Scandal
- Japan Times - Abe stands his ground over Moritomo Scandal
- Japan Times - Moritomo Couple Jailed
- Korea Joon Gang Daily - Abe's pose resurrects horrors of Unit 731
- The Nation - Abe Poses in 731 Jet
- BBC News - Abe visits Yasukuni Shrine
- FT - Abenomics
- Asia Society - Abe denies the use of "Comfort Women" by Japan
- Wikipedia - Shinzo Abe
- Wikipedia - Akie Abe
We embark on a 4-part journey through the life and death of Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-running Prime Minister, who just so happened to get assassinated in May of 2022. As we shall discover, perhaps the damage had already been done by that point...
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Tobias Harris - The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan
- The Nation - Abe denies Japanese war crimes
- The Nation - Japan attempts to erase history
- BBC News - Obituary for Shinzo Abe
- The Economist - Biography of Shinzo Abe
- FP - Abe's Ultranationalism destroyed diplomatic ties with China
- Asia Society - Abe denies the use of "Comfort Women" by Japan
- Wikipedia - Shinzo Abe
This is the tale of the rise of fascism in Japan, from its origins in Mussolini's Italy to the first bumbling attempts at coups by clandestine organisations. One of the most unlikely people who became embroiled in one such coup was the legendary comedic actor Charlie Chaplin.
Today's guest is Cami! You can find her via her Twitter page!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japan Today - Charlie Chaplin narrowly escaped assassination
- Medium - That time Charlie Chaplin almost got assassinated
- The Vintage News - Charlie Chaplin was nearly assassinated in Japan in 1932
- Terror in Japan by Mathew Legare
- Reto Hoffman - The Fascist Effect
- Wikipedia - The League of Blood
We continue our exploration of Shinzo Abe's greatest influence on his life, the war criminal Nobusuke Kishi. This episode we cover his life after being released from prison, and his highly successful and Machiavellian return to politics. What a piece of shit.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque, by Mark Driscoll
- Japan at the Crossroads, by Nick Kapur
- Nobusuke Kishi - Wikipedia
To begin a long series on the life and death of Shinzo Abe, we must first look at the most influential person in Abe's life - his maternal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi. Beginning his career in 1930s Manchuria, Kishi would eventually be one of the central architects of post-war Japan.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque, by Mark Driscoll
- Japan at the Crossroads, by Nick Kapur
- Nobusuke Kishi - Wikipedia
In 1961, a new Disneyland was due to open in the city of Nara. This would have been the second Disneyland in the world, a replica of the Anaheim original, and a monument of America's cultural dominance across the world. Nara Disneyland never happened, but what we got instead was something far more beautiful.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Defunctland: The History of Nara Dreamland
- World Abandoned
- Matterhorn 1959: Stuff from the Park
- Video of Nara Dreamland in 2000
- SoraNews24 - Is Osaka's Bic Camera Haunted?
- Unseen Japan
Tokyo Rose was an infamous radio host operating during WWII, helping to spread pernicious Japanese propaganda with the aim of breaking the spirits of Allied troops. Despite the fact that the US State Department would eventually claim that a Japanese American woman, Iva Toguri, was the culprit, the truth is that Tokyo Rose never even existed.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Guardian - Obituary of Iva Toguri
- PBS History Detectives - Transcript
- John Juji Hada - The Indictment And Trial of Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino - “Tokyo Rose”
- Chicago Tribune - '91 Retrospective on Iva Toguri
- The National Registry of Exonerations
- CBS - '76 Report on Iva Toguri
- Military History Wiki - Zero Hour
- FBI Website - Iva Toguri and Tokyo Rose
- Wikipedia - Iva Toguri D'Aquino
- Wikipedia - Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose was an infamous radio host operating during WWII, helping to spread pernicious Japanese propaganda with the aim of breaking the spirits of Allied troops. Despite the fact that the US State Department would eventually claim that a Japanese American woman, Iva Toguri, was the culprit, the truth is that Tokyo Rose never even existed.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Guardian - Obituary of Iva Toguri
- PBS History Detectives - Transcript
- John Juji Hada - The Indictment And Trial of Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino - “Tokyo Rose”
- Chicago Tribune - '91 Retrospective on Iva Toguri
- The National Registry of Exonerations
- CBS - '76 Report on Iva Toguri
- Military History Wiki - Zero Hour
- FBI Website - Iva Toguri and Tokyo Rose
- Wikipedia - Iva Toguri D'Aquino
- Wikipedia - Tokyo Rose
We've made it. The final chapter in the fate of the legendary Shinsengumi. As the reign of the Tokugawa is in its death throes, Kondo Isami gets repeatedly promoted, seemingly unaware that he's being made the captain of a sinking ship. By the time he realises, it's far too late, and Isami might be denied his "beautiful death" of Seppuku.
Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to the excellent Greetings Adventurers podcast for which she helps produce!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps by Romulus Hillsborough (2005)
The final tale of the storied Shinsengumi... split up into 2 parts. Kondo, head of the Shinsengumi, begins to have a taste of the power he always sought, even as Japan falls into the turmoil of the Boshin war.
Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to the excellent Greetings Adventurers podcast for which she helps produce!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps by Romulus Hillsborough (2005)
Sumo Wrestling is the national sport of Japan, and has been practiced in some form for most likely around 2000 years. It prides itself on its integrity, honor and sportsmanship, and yet considering the innumerable scandals the sport has faced in the past 20 years alone, it could be argued that Sumo is not, in fact, a sport at all.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Freakonomics clip on sumo match-fixing
- AP - Japan mayor saved by nurse says female sumo ban irrelevant
- Aljazeera documentary on sumo
- NPR piece on corruption in sumo
- Japan Times - Sumo links to Yakuza
- The Guardian - Does Sumo need saving?
- Wikipedia - Shinto origins of Sumo
- Wikipedia - The Tokitsukaze Hazing Scandal
Sumo Wrestling is the national sport of Japan, and has been practiced in some form for most likely around 2000 years. It prides itself on its integrity, honor and sportsmanship, and yet considering the innumerable scandals the sport has faced in the past 20 years alone, it could be argued that Sumo is not, in fact, a sport at all.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Freakonomics clip on sumo match-fixing
- AP - Japan mayor saved by nurse says female sumo ban irrelevant
- Aljazeera documentary on sumo
- NPR piece on corruption in sumo
- Japan Times - Sumo links to Yakuza
- The Guardian - Does Sumo need saving?
- Wikipedia - Shinto origins of Sumo
- Wikipedia - The Tokitsukaze Hazing Scandal
Content Warning: Spree Killing by Firearms
Despite the social phenomenon of the violent Incel being associated with the advent of the internet, the Tsuyama Massacre of 1938 feels unnervingly recognisable. This is the story of the sack of shit Mutsuo Toi.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Murderpedia article
- English Academic
- Medium blogpost by S.A. Ozbourne
- Twitter thread by @poondonkus on Tsuyama as a trope
- Alpha-net blogpost by Knight 9
- Love and Life in Southwestern Japan, Journal of Comparative Family Studies by Emiko Ochiai
- Japanese Wikipedia on the Tsuyama Massacre
Content Warning: Spree Killing by Firearms
Despite the social phenomenon of the violent Incel being associated with the advent of the internet, the Tsuyama Massacre of 1938 feels unnervingly recognisable. This is the story of the sack of shit Mutsuo Toi.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Murderpedia article
- English Academic
- Medium blogpost by S.A. Ozbourne
- Twitter thread by @poondonkus on Tsuyama as a trope
- Alpha-net blogpost by Knight 9
- Love and Life in Southwestern Japan, Journal of Comparative Family Studies by Emiko Ochiai
- Japanese Wikipedia on the Tsuyama Massacre
Content Warning: Claustrophobia and Toilet Humour
A body. A Mystery. A Toilet. This is the story of Naoyuki Kanno, who went missing on 24th February 1989.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- HORROR FACT OF JAPAN
- INF News
- Medium blog post by Emmalina Alessandrya
- DayDay News
- Lipstick Alley
Content Warning: Claustrophobia and Toilet Humour
A body. A Mystery. A Toilet. This is the story of Naoyuki Kanno, who went missing on 24th February 1989.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- HORROR FACT OF JAPAN
- INF News
- Medium blog post by Emmalina Alessandrya
- DayDay News
- Lipstick Alley
The earthquake and tsunami that rocked Northern Honshu on the 11th March, 2011, had far-reaching consequences beyond the natural disaster. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant lost electric power, multiple cooling systems failed, and over the coming days multiple core meltdowns led to the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl. And it was entirely preventable.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- History.com - Fukushima Timeline
- The Economist - Blow-Ups Happen
- CNN - Japan's Nuclear Crisis
- Washington Post - Hasegawa's Offer Ignored
- WSJ - TEPCO lays off Denko-chan
- NHK - Former Workers Refuse Governmental Health Screenings
- TEPCO - Press Releases
- Wikipedia - Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
The earthquake and tsunami that rocked Northern Honshu on the 11th March, 2011, had far-reaching consequences beyond the natural disaster. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant lost electric power, multiple cooling systems failed, and over the coming days multiple core meltdowns led to the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl. And it was entirely preventable.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- History.com - Fukushima Timeline
- The Economist - Blow-Ups Happen
- CNN - Japan's Nuclear Crisis
- Washington Post - Hasegawa's Offer Ignored
- WSJ - TEPCO lays off Denko-chan
- NHK - Former Workers Refuse Governmental Health Screenings
- TEPCO - Press Releases
- Wikipedia - Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Content Warning: Natural Disasters.
11th March, 2011. 2:46pm. A magnitude 9.1 undersea earthquake strikes 45 miles east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. While the initial tremor was severe, the resulting tsunami that hit the shore was catastrophic.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- NHK Documentary - 3/11: The Tsunami - The First 3 Days
- Reuters - 10 Years On, Grief Never Subsides
- Testimonies from Survivors
- The Guardian - The School Beneath the Waves
- National Geographic - One Man's Survival Story
- Britannica article
- Live Science article
- Japan Times - 10 Year Anniversary
- Facts and Details - Survivor Testimonies
- Wikipedia
Ogino Ginko is known as the "first woman to practice Westernised medicine" in Japan. The number of hurdles she had to cross in order to get there was immense. 140 years later, attitudes towards women in medicine have not advanced as far as one would have hoped...
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Hektoen International - Ogino Ginko
- Mara Patessio - Women and Public Life in Early Meiji Japan: The Development of the Feminist Movement
- Japan Times - Ogino Ginko article
- Wikipedia - Ogino Ginko
- Japanese Wikipedia - Ogino Ginko
- BBC - Japan medical schools scandal
- Guardian - TMU scandal 1
- Guardian - TMU scandal 2
- Washington Post - TMU Scandal
- Asahi Shimbun - St Marianna sued
- Journal of Educational Integrity - TMU entrance exams scandal
- Mainichi Shimbun - University refuses to accept responsibility
- Asia-Pacific Journal - A Necessary Evil?
- YouTube - TMU executives apologise poorly
- Japan Times - TMU subsidies withdrawn
- Asahi Shimbun - Legal ruling against TMU
- YouTube - Seikou Nagaoka - Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
Masayoshi Son is a tremendously wealthy man, and the founder of megacorp SoftBank. He's also the creator of the SoftBank Vision Fund, the largest venture capital fund in the world. Despite being responsible for the investment of over $100 billion dollars to "improve the world", the Vision Fund has made countless unfathomable decisions... such as a $47 billion dollar investment in WeWork.
Today's guest is Tara! You can find her on Twitter @Tara__Tea, and her podcast Wintercrest @WintercrestPod.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Reuters article on SoftBank losses
- WSJ article on SoftBank losses
- Value Walk - 10 of the worst Vision Fund investments
- YouTube - SoftBank's worst investments
- Yahoo Finance - Bio on Masayoshi Son
- DataDrivenInvestor - Masayoshi compares himself to Jesus
- Business Insider - Uber scandals
- Fast Company - Neumann and Son
- YouTube - ColdFusion video on WeWork
Often described as a Renaissance Man, Itoi has been influential in several walks of life, from ad copy to manga, from lyrics to computer games. Let's explore the life of this unlikely cultural hero.
Today's guest is my good friend Ben Stonick! You can find him on Twitter @benstonick!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Switchaboo - Biography series on Itoi
- Hobo Nikkan - Itoi's website
- Yomuka - blog on Itoi's career in advertisement
- EarthBound Wiki - Biography on Itoi
- Wikipedia - Shigesato Itoi
- Super Eyepatch Wolf - How MOTHER 3 breaks you
- Kenji Sawada - TOKIO
- Itoi's Twitter Account
In 1982, Kazuko Fukuda committed a heinous crime. She spent the next 15 years on the run.
Today's guest is Jessy, my co-host from Final Fanservice! You can find her on Twitter @jusifers, and her podcast Naruto Reviewto @NarutoReviewto!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Unseen Japan article on Kazuko Fukuda
- Medium blog piece by S. A. Ozbourne
- Tokyo Reporter article on Kazuko Fukuda
- Japanese Wikipedia on Kazuko Fukuda
- Japanese Wikipedia on the Matsuyama Prison Case
Content Warning: It's brutal. Domestic abuse, torture, rape, murder
We conclude our explorations into the heinous crimes of Futoshi Matsunaga, with the elimination of the Ogata family and on-going torture of those around him. It's real fucking bad, guys.
Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Medium blog by S.A. Ozbourne
- Unknown Misandry blog
- Chubun article
- Japan Times Weekly article
- Japan Times - death sentence
- Murderpedia article
- Wikipedia - DSED
- Wikipedia - Futoshi Matsunaga
- Wikipedia - Junko Ogata
- Japanese Wikipedia on the case
- YouTube Channel - I am the Son of Futoshi Matsunaga
Content Warning: It's brutal. Domestic abuse, torture, rape, murder
Futoshi Matsunaga was a conman, romancing, deceiving and defrauding women out of huge sums of money. This would be terrible enough if it weren't for his penchant of using electric shocks as torture, and the horrifying series of murders he orchestrated.
Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Medium blog by S.A. Ozbourne
- Unknown Misandry blog
- Chubun article
- Japan Times Weekly article
- Japan Times - death sentence
- Murderpedia article
- Wikipedia - DSED
- Wikipedia - Futoshi Matsunaga
- Wikipedia - Junko Ogata
- Japanese Wikipedia on the case
- YouTube Channel - I am the Son of Futoshi Matsunaga
Yuko Chino was the cult leader who used her belief system, Chino-Shoho, to gather followers together, with the stated goal of scientific research that would help save the world from disasters. This pseudo-scientific commune, called the Pana-Wave Laboratory, made headlines in 2003 when it attempted to avert the end of the world by kidnapping an artic seal. Today's guest is Jessy, my co-host from Final Fanservice! You can find her on Twitter @jusifers, and her podcast Naruto Reviewto @NarutoReviewto!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Cult Education Institute, by Salvador Murguia
- A world according to Pana -Wave Laboratory: An extreme response to globalization in Japan, by Salvador Murguia
- Religion and Risk: Pana-Wave Laboratory and the Risk Society, by Salvador Murguia
- Yuko Chino givers her first interview, Sydney Morning Herald
- Doomsday cult makes waves in Japan, The Guardian
- MacArthur pondered Showa conversion, Japan Times
- Chino Shoho's quirks pose no threat, Japan Times
- Pana Wave, Wikipedia
- Tama-Chan, Wikipedia
Content Warning - Discussions of Child Sexual Abuse. Johnny Kitagawa is Japan's most successful music producer of all time, having represented artists for over 50 years. His company, Johnny & Associates, are notorious for bullying, blackmail, control and monopolies. There have also been more troubling accusations about Kitagawa since the early 90s...
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Guardian article 1
- Guardian article 2
- New York Times - SMAP breaking up
- Nikkei - Fair Trade Commission warns J&A
- Twitter Thread on J&A
- New York Times - Accusations against Kitagawa
- Variety - Abuse of Power
Content Warning - Prolonged Peril in an Aircraft
On the 12th October 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 was on route from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Osaka International. After catastrophic decompression in the aft bulkhead, the pilots wrestled for 32 minutes to keep the plane in the air.
What resulted was the worst loss of life from a single-plane crash in world history.
Today's guest is Hugo! You can find him via his Twitter page.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Exterior Simulation of JAL 123 crash by Gohan-Chan
- Cockpit POV Simulation of JAL 123 crash by Gohan-Chan
- Fire on the Mountain by Admiral Cloudberg on Medium
- Article on 35th Anniversary by Japan Times
- Accident Report
- Wikipedia
We return to the storied history of the Shinsengumi, covering their rise in fame, power, influence and... indiscriminate murder.
Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to the excellent Greetings Adventurers podcast for which she helps produce!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps by Romulus Hillsborough (2005)
- Wikipedia - Serizawa Kamo
- Japanese Wiki Corpus - Serizawa Kamo
Socialist politician Inejirō Asanuma was active at some of the most volatile times in Japanese history, having to thread the dangerous political weaves of both Imperial Japan and reconstruction after the end of WWII. His death was one of the most infamous events of the 20th Century, and has been strangely influential even in modern times...
Today's guest is Keegan! You can find him on his Twitter handle, @OleKeeg.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Assassination of Inejiro Asanuma - Wired
- Japan Socialist Party leader assassinated at political rally - Guardian
- Footage of the Assassination (not graphic)
- Wikipedia
Gen'yōsha, or the Black Ocean Society, was a clandestine far-right organisation created in response to the Meiji Restoration. Disaffected samurai decided that, to make Japan great again, it had to force the Imperial Army to invade Korea, and then China. It did this by essentially being the CIA decades before the CIA were a thing.
Today's guest is Mollie! You can find her on Twitter @MollieMM9, and she hosts the wonderful podcast Sex With Ghosts.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Enemy Within, by Terry Crowdy (2006)
- Historia Wikia
- Wikipedia
Content Warning: Medical Stuff
The Tokaimura Nuclear Powerplant has provided energy to Japan's power grid since the 60s. It wasn't until the 90s, however, that it suffered two notable nuclear incidents, the second of which led to one of the most prolonged and painful deaths of modern times.
Today's guest is Josh. You can find him on Twitter @josketh, and he co-hosts the podcast Naruto Reviewto.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The World Nuclear Association
- Our World in Data - Nuclear Energy
- The New Scientist - Japan’s record of nuclear cover-ups
- Japan Times - Criminal Charges south against PNC, officials
- Wise International - report on the '97 incident
- YouTube - Puruto-kun propaganda video
- Wikipedia - Tokai Nuclear Incident
"Nekonomics" once referred to the unexpectedly dramatic increase in revenue that businesses could earn simply by having a pet cat as a mascot. Today it has evolved into something more widespread in Japanese society - the enormous and rapidly-growing market of felines and feline accessories.
Today's guest is Michael, aka HumanFilthXVX. You can find them via their Twitter page, and can watch them play games over on their Twitch channel.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Tama (cat), Wikipedia
- Tama, AFP
- Girl and Cat blog
- Cat becomes Lord of a Castle, Next Shark
- Nekonomics: a Brief Introduction, Medium
- Nekonomics in Japan, NZ Herald
- What is Nekonomics?, Teller Report
- The Cat Controllers of Japan, Hyper Japan
- Nekonomics Does its Bit, Yoru no Kitsune blog
- Goat Café, Guardian
- Tashirojima, aka Nekojima, Wikipedia
The Constitution of Japan was brought into effect two years after the end of World War II. The most well-known and controversial part of the Japanese constitution is Article 9, forbidding Japan from keeping a standing army or entering into war. Here is how Japan has broken its own laws repeatedly since 1952.
Today's guest is Jonah Gregory! You can find him on Twitter @aREALjonah, and all of his wonderful content can be found on his bio.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism, 2006, by Paul Midford of the Washington East-West Centre
- Major-Power Relations in Post 9/11 Asia, by Chin Kin Wah, 2003, in the Japan Center for International Exchange
- The Comfort Zone: Japan’s Media Marketing of 9/11, 2005, by Yoneyuki Sugita of Osaka University
- 10 Years Ago, Japan went to Iraq… and Learned Nothing, Medium
- End of an Era as Japan enters Iraq, Guardian
- SDF logs cast doubt over legality of Japan's Iraq mission, Nikkei
- The Erosion of Japanese Pacifism: The Constitutionality of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines", Cornell International Law Journal 32 (1999), Robert A. Fisher
- 2015 change to JSDF deployment, Reuters
Content Warning - Murder, Suicide
In 2004, Okubo elementary school in Sasebo was the site of a horrific event, a murder that made headlines around the world... and was subsequently picked up by the worst net denizens around to create a meme.
Today's guest is Kym Stonick! You can find them on Twitter @kymcattys, and all of their wonderful content can be found on their bio.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Medium article
- Guardian article
- Mainichi Shimbun article
- Japan Times article
- Japan Times - Nara teen arson
- Murderpedia article
- China Daily article
- Know Your Meme - Nevada-tan
- Japan Times - Kusanagi's office raided
- Japan Times - Ministers told to watch their mouths
- Urban Dictionary
In the waning days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a squad of highly-trained and dangerous samurai was formed in an effort to keep rowdy ronin and political agitators in check. This is the story of how the Shinsengumi was born, and in particular one of the two original commanders, the psychopath that was Serizawa Kamo.
Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to the excellent Greetings Adventurers podcast for which she helps produce!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
We continue following the career of Akimoto as he ascends to one of the most successful music producers in Asia. Following the launch of AKB48, it seems that a formula for idol super-groups has finally been hit upon, so it's time for franchising!
And, you know, horrifically draconian and abusive behaviour rules for all of the women.
Today's guest is Sarah Tompkins! You can find her via Twitter account, @herladytompkins.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- YouTube, Teacher Teacher
- YouTube, Einstein yoru Dianna Agron
- YouTube, 22/7
- Dianna Agron lyrics translation
- Japan Times, Ayaka Kikuchi fired
- BBC, Minami Minegishi shaves her head
- Hifumi Okunumi, Unionise and take back your lost love lives
- allkpop.com, AKS renamed as Vernalossom
- Generasia - Akimoto biography
- AKB48 Fandom - Akimoto
- Moonyoons Blog, the Bird that flew away
Yasushi Akimoto is one of the most successful pop producers in Asia, having a string of successful musical acts that includes the phenomenon that is AKB48. Throughout his career, however, he has faced allegations of antiquated and misogynist attitudes towards women, which can be seen most obviously in his role as a lyricist...
Today's guest is Sarah Tompkins! You can find her via Twitter account, @herladytompkins.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Onyanko Club, Please Don't Take Off my Sailor Uniform
- Ushiro-yubi Sasare-gumi, Behave Yourself, Teacher!
- Musukko Club, Boku-Tachi no Season
- Suitei Shoujo, Kagi ga Akanai
- Morning Musume, Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari
- Generasia - Akimoto biography
- AKB48 Fandom - Akimoto
- Wikipedia - Akimoto
- Wikipedia - Onyanko Club
We return to discuss the end of Carlos Ghosn's illustrious career as one of the most powerful corporate heads in the world. As he was considering full retirement, Ghosn was arrested at Narita Airport, and Japanese police charged him with vague financial crimes.
What happened next is something out of a spy thriller novel.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Biography on Ghosn's website
- Notable Biographies
- Renault Spy Scandal
- BBC Storyville - The Last Flight
- Arrest of Taylors
- Ghosn talks of Escape from Japan
- Ghosn hopes France will Clear Him
Carlos Ghosn was for quite some time one of the most powerful and influence people in the global automotive industry. His success at Nissan came at the cost of tens of thousands of jobs, brutal cost-cutting measures and the alienation of Japanese workers from a Japanese company. Today we look at this asshole's rise to power.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Biography on Ghosn's website
- Notable Biographies
- Renault Spy Scandal
- BBC Storyville - The Last Flight
- Arrest of Taylors
- Ghosn talks of Escape from Japan
- Ghosn hopes France will Clear Him
Shugendō is a religion practiced in Japan since as early as the 7th century, and involves severe asceticism as a form of worship and spiritual development. While most of this involves mountain climbing, some of the more enterprising monks in the past 1000 years have taken to the attempt to preserve their physical form my mummifying themselves while they are still alive.
Today's guest is Tony Srimongka! You can find him via his Twitter page!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Ask a Mortician - Caitlin Dougherty
- Atlas Obscura - Sokushinbutsu
- Mummipedia - Tetsumonkai
- Religious Rituals in Shugendo - Miyake Hitoshi
- SoraNews24 - Takigyo
- Senshu Tourism
- Wikipedia - Shinbutsu Bunri
- Wikipedia - Sokushinbutsu
- Trip Advisor - Shipporyuji Review
- Japan Today - Sogen Kato
- BBC News - Sogen Kato
- BBC News - Fusa Furuya
- Wikipedia - Sogen Kato
We continue our exploration of Hideaki Anno's life and career, looking at his mind-state during Evangelion, the crash of his mental health afterwards, and the return to creating some of the most successful and influential Japanese art of the last 25 years.
Today's guest is Kym Stonick! You can find her on Twitter @kymcattys, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her bio.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Biography of Anno on Khara's website
- Biography of Anno on TV Tropes
- MPEG 1996 Interview
- Anno and Miyazaki talk in Morocco
- Anno talks to Sex Workers
- Extra Curricular Lesson with Hideaki Anno
- Wikipedia
Hideaki Anno is one of the most well-known and successful Japanese directors, whose influence on the anime industry since the 80s has been far-reaching and consequential. Today we look at his early career, before the launch of the phenomenon that was Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Today's guest is Kym Stonick! You can find her on Twitter @kymcattys, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her bio.
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Biography of Anno on Khara's website
- Biography of Anno on TV Tropes
- DAICON III opening animation
- DAICON IV opening animation
- Anno calls Miyazaki a "Geezer" - SoraNews24
- Wikipedia
On the last day of the year 2000, the 31st December, Japan awoke to one of the most horrific murder scenes in modern times. What made the family annihilation truly terrifying is that it has never been solved.
Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Guardian article from the incident
- Reddit thread with resources
- ASKA Casebook
- Medium summary of the case
- Nikkei photos inside the house
- Nikkei video footage of inside the house on YouTube
- Asahi Shimbun 20 year anniversary of the murders
- Japanese Wikipedia page of the incident
Following the the Asama-Sansō Incident, the revolutionary movement in Japan was utterly finished. However, for Fusako Shigenobu and the Japanese Red Army, the fight for International Communism had only just begun. Working out of Beirut, the few dozen radicals carried out some of the most well-known terrorist attacks in history, starting with the extremely bloody Lod Airport Massacre in 1972...
Today's guest is the editor of the show Steph Kingston! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to her excellent podcasts, including Love to Hate!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Encyclopedia.com - Fusako Shigenobu
- Mainichi Shimbun - Interview with Okamoto
- NBC - Carlos the Jackal on Trial
- Aljazeera - Interview with May Shigenobu
- Japanese Wikipedia - Japanese Red Army
- Wikipedia - The Lod Airport Massacre
In February 1972, the United Red Army, a radical far-left organisation, carried out a violent purge of its own members for seemingly-inscrutable reasons. What followed was a hostage situation and police siege that lasted 8 days and changed the course of Japanese socialism, the media and... cup noodles.
Today's guest is the editor of the show Steph Kingston! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to her excellent podcasts, including Love to Hate!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Throw Out your Books - Takaya Shiomi
- Throw Out your Books - the Asama-Sanso Incident
- BBC Witness History
- Red Army Videos - footage of the event
- Wikipedia - Hiroko Nagata
Babies. Can't live with 'em... etc. Japan is frequently seen as the poster child for modern societies that have given up on propagating their own population through reproduction. What's the truth to this? Has Japan become a nation of virgin NEETs who refuse to fuck for the sake of their country?
Today's guest is Bridget! You can find her on Twitter @Briget_suckit, and take a listen to her fantastic podcasts, Sex With Ghosts and The Gossier!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- World Bank - population data
- World Bank - Fire Horse
- Foreign Policy - Fire Horse
- Global Life Expectancy data
- Independent - East Asian birthrates hit record low
- Nikkei - Births in Japan falls to a record low
- BBC - Japan to fund AI matchmaking service
- Kyodo News - Pandemic worsening Japan birth rate
- Reuters - Japan ministers warn birth rate falling at more rapid pace
- Quartz - Japan wants to raise its birth rates with new perks
- Japan Forward - If you want to understand falling fertility rates, stop focusing on Japan, Earl Kinmouth
- Guardian - Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex? Abigail Haworth
- Slate - Celibacy Syndrome
- Business Insider - Japanese people aren't having sex
Ōgui translates to "Gluttony" or "Glutton". Mukbang is a Korean portmanteau that translates to "Eat-Cast" That's right, today's episode is all about Japanese people who can eat horrifyingly large amounts of food. Today's guest is Josh Scalf. You can find him on Twitter @jwscalf, you can find his beautiful bird family @SomeRowdyBirbs, and you can find his viral video content on his YouTube page. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * Competitive Eating Injuries - Slate * The Untold Truth of Kobayashi - Mashed * 'My Lungs Get Shifted Up' - People * Yuka Kinoshita's YouTube Channel * What's Your Story? * Gal Sone's blog * Yuka Kinoshita on Japanese TV
Content Warning: Wam Crimes. The bad ones.
We continue our coverage of the invasion and occupation of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Once the Imperial Army had fully occupied Nanjing, and atrocities became almost constant, General Iwane Matsui seemed to finally realise that he had lost all control over his troops... and yet the war crimes continued regardless.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang (1997)
- In the Name of the Emperor, by Christine Choi (1995)
- The Impossible Task of Remembering the Nanking Massacre, by Simon Han
- The Longest Theatre Of World War II, by Timeline
- Survivor Testimonies, Facing History
- The last survivors: Living testimony of Nanjing Massacre, CGTN
- The Nanking Massacre Project: Photographs and Films, Yale University
- Wikipedia
Content Warning: War Crimes. The bad ones.
From December 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, an atrocity carried out by the Japanese Imperial Army took place over about 7 weeks. Even within a century that saw some of the worst and most far-reaching crimes against humanity, the event that came to be known as the Rape of Nanking would still be seen as exceptionally horrifying.
Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang (1997)
- In the Name of the Emperor, by Christine Choi (1995)
- The Impossible Task of Remembering the Nanking Massacre, by Simon Han
- The Longest Theatre Of World War II, by Timeline
- Survivor Testimonies, Facing History
- The last survivors: Living testimony of Nanjing Massacre, CGTN
- The Nanking Massacre Project: Photographs and Films, Yale University
- Wikipedia
In the winter of 1915, a settlement in the Hokkaido wilderness was besieged by a bear that had awoken far earlier than normal hibernation patterns would expect. The resultant carnage was something that left indelible scars on the psyche of Japan. Today's guest is Cassie! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to her excellent anime podcast, Shoujo Treehouse!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The article Bear Attack by Verity Jorgensen-Lane, formerly on Tofugu
- The Kumamori Society website
- Picchio Wildlife Research Centre website
- Injury Patterns of Fatal Bear Attacks, PubMed
- Bear Attacks in Japan, All About Japan
- Death of a Japanese Man by a Bear Sparks Conversation, SoraNews24
- The Sankebetsu Brown Bear Incident, Vintage News
- Ursine Terror, The Guardian
- Japan Town Deploys Monster Wolf Statues to Deter Bears, The Guardian
On the morning of the 10th December 1968, a car was pulled over by a motorcycle cop. The car was transporting 300 million yen to a Toshiba factory. The cop was, in fact, not a cop. Today's guest is Cami! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to her excellent anime podcast, Shoujo Treehouse! For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Unseen Japan article
- Gendai Media panel discussion
- Today Online article
- South China Morning Post article
- Medium article
- Livedoor article on the 2018 "confession"
- Wikipedia
Content Warning: Suicide by falling We look at the life and works of famed director Juzo Itami, known for his humorous and wry social commentary on Japanese society. His death in 1997, however, still remains something of curiosity, and many continue to suspect foul play... Today's guest is Michael, aka HumanFilthXVX. You can find them via their Twitter page, and can watch them play games over on their Twitch channel.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Juzo Itami's IMDb page
- New York Times article on Itami's '92 assault
- Film in Ether article, discussing Itami's death
- The High Price of Writing About Yakuza, by Jake Adelstein
- The Rumpus Interview, with Jake Adelstein
- The Juzo Itami Museum
- Study on the behaviour of Heisei yakuza
- Wikipedia
Content Warning: Self-Harm, Internet Abuse, Suicide Terrace House is one of the most successful reality TV shows, not only in Japan but internationally. With its bland, softly-lit pointlessness, it appealed to many looking for an alternative to more dramatic shows. However, in 2020 it would find itself embroiled in controversy that hit headlines across the world.
Today's guest is Jessy, my co-host from Final Fanservice! You can find her on Twitter @jusifers, and her podcast Naruto Reviewto @NarutoReviewto!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Wired article, Davey Alba
- Buzzfeed article, Mia Nakaji Monnier
- Metropolis interview with Lauren Tsai
- NY Times article on Hana Kimura
- Guardian article on Cyber-Bullying Laws
- Vox article on Hana Kimura
- Vulture article on Hana Kimura
- Distractify article on Tokui
- Japan Times article on human rights violations hearing
- Wikipedia
We look at the self-described "Vagina Artist" Megumi Igarashi, aka Rokudenashiko, who made headlines around the world after she created a 3D-printed kayak modeled around her own labia... and was subsequently arrested by Japanese police. Today's guest is Nika Howard . You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Rokudenashiko's website
- Rokudenashiko's Instagram
- Vice video on Rokudenashiko
- Wikipedia - Kanamara festival
- Independent article on Kanamara
- The Culture Trip article on Kanamara
- Spoon & Tamago article on Rokudenashiko's memoir
Content Warning: Murder, Sexual Assault. In the span of 7 weeks, Takahiro Shiraishi used his Twitter account to lure vulnerable and suicidal people to his apartment. He promised compassion and understanding, but his goal was purely that of his own gratification. Today's guest is the editor of the show Steph Kingston! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to her excellent podcasts, including Love to Hate!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
The claim that personality types are determined by ABO blood typing is a cultural phenomenon in Japan and South Korea. It's origins, however, may be a little sinister... Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page, or listen to the excellent Greetings Adventurers podcast for which she helps produce! For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Tofugu article
- Blood Purity Craze - ABC News
- Blood Type - Japanese Wikipedia
- A to O Guide - Japan Times
- Blame it on my Blood - Reuters
- Wikipedia
We look at the work of Takeshi Kitano as a world-renowned director, writer, editor and actor, his failed attempt at breaking into Hollywood, his most well-known role outside of Japan in Battle Royale, and his talent at tap dancing... Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Interview with Hollywood
- The Man is Violent by the BFI
- Biography by Britannica
- Biography by IMDb
- Wikipedia
This is the first of a two-parter discussing the life and works of the famed actor, director, comedian and tap-dancer Takeshi Kitano, otherwise known as Beat Takeshi. In this episode we look at the start of his career as a stand-up comedian, and his emergence into cinema. And also, of course, we discuss Takeshi's Castle... Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Interview with Hollywood
- The Man is Violent by the BFI
- Biography by Britannica
- Biography by IMDb
- Wikipedia
One Piece is not only the most successful manga of all time, it's also the most successful comic of all time. Starting when Oda was only 22, this means that he has spent the majority of his life as highly famous, successful and rich. He is also... a man-child.
Today's guest is Kieran Bennet! You can find him via his Twitter page, and can listen to his excellent podcasts For Crits and Giggles and Inks and Issues!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The One Piece Wiki
- Interview with Oda - The Grand Line
- “I sleep from 2 to 5am” - Anime News Network
- TV Tropes
- Biography - Otaquest
- Problematic Faves: One Piece - Michelle Villanueva
- Wikipedia
Each year (that does not take place during the global plague) in Himeji, the Nada no Kenka Festival is held on October 14th and 15th. It's extremely loud, colourful, fun and drunken. It can also be rather intensely dangerous to both participants and spectators alike...
Today's guest is Tony Srimongka! You can find him via his Twitter page, and can watch him play games over on his Twitch channel.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- These “Mikoshi Dako” are the badges of honour from a Japanese festival - Sora News 24
- Nada Matsuri
- Breathtakingly Dangerous: Nada Kenka Matsuri in Himeji - Zooming Japan
This is the story of Chukaku, a far-left organisation that seeks to overthrow the capitalist structure of Japanese society. After several schisms in leftist groups, Chukaku decided to do what many others would not, and became militant.
Today's guest is Michael, aka HumanFilthXVX. You can find them via their Twitter page, and can watch them play games over on their Twitch channel, and I highly recommend doing both!
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- October raid on Chukakuha Headquarters - Spoon & Tamago
- Throw Out Your Books - Japanese Radicalism and Counter-Culture blog
- Hidden for half a century - Sankei
- Ultra-leftist fugitive wanted for 1971 police slaying captured - Japan Times
- Terrorist Research & Analysis Consortium
- Wikipedia
In the early morning of May 27th, 1997, a janitor of Tainohata Elementary School discovered a disembodied head of a child in front of the school gates. The perpetrator would turn out to be... a massive fan of true crime...
Today's guest is Nika Howard . You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard, and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Murderpedia
- South China Morning Post article
- The Kobe Child Killer - Emily Thompson, Morbidology
- The Kobe Child Murderer Has Launched a Website - Bizarrepedia
- Kobe murderer writes ambiguously of regret and pleasure from 1997 child killings - Tomohiro Osaki, Japan Times
- Japan's Notorious "Boy A" Killer Now Has a Creepy Vanity Website - Cheryl Eddy, Gizmodo
- Weird IMDb post
- Wikipedia
A quiet, close-knit village became the unlikely site of wide-scale arsenic poisoning. Today's guest is Josh. You can find him on Twitter @josketh, and he co-hosts the podcast Naruto Reviewto. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Japan Times articles
- The Little Bowl of Death - Richard Lloyd Parry, The Independent
- Murderpedia
- Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center
- Interview with Masumi Hayashi’s son
- Stampede at Curry Poison Trial - BBC
This is the second of our two-parter on the crypto-fascist author Yukio Mishima. We cover Mishima's private fascist militia, and the fascinating, bloody and highly confusing end to his life. Today's guest is Josh Scalf. You can find him on Twitter @jwscalf, you can find his beautiful bird family @SomeRowdyBirbs, and you can find his viral video content on his YouTube page. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * The Strange Tale of Yukio Mishima - 1985 BBC Documentary * Yukio Mishima: The strange tale of Japan’s infamous novelist - Thomas Graham, BBC * The Political Afterlives of Yukio Mishima - Gavin Walker, Jacobin * Wikipedia
This is the first of a two-part series on the author, poet, actor, model and crypto-fascist Yukio Mishima. Today we follow Mishima's early life and career as a national, and eventually international, sensation. Today's guest is Josh Scalf. You can find him on Twitter @jwscalf, you can find his beautiful bird family @SomeRowdyBirbs, and you can find his viral video content on his YouTube page. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * The Strange Tale of Yukio Mishima - 1985 BBC Documentary * Yukio Mishima: The strange tale of Japan’s infamous novelist - Thomas Graham, BBC * The Political Afterlives of Yukio Mishima - Gavin Walker, Jacobin * Wikipedia
Aum Shinrikyo, the doomsday cult, is well-known for being responsible for the '95 Sarin Gas Attack on the Tokyo subway. Their list of crimes, however, does not end there. Another heinous act of the cult was the home invasion and murder of an entire family in 1989.
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales
- Destroying the World to Save It by Robert Jay Lifton
- Aum Shinrikyo cult members a step closer to execution 23 years after deadly Tokyo gas attack by Jake Sturmer
- Cult attraction: Aum Shinrikyo's power of persuasion by Masami Ito
- "The time has come": AUM victims' kin voice mixed feelings over executions by Kyodo News
- TV Station Comes Under New Fire in Cult Scandal by Joseph Coleman
- Murderpedia
- Wikipedia
In 2007 the body of Lindsay Hawker, a British teacher working in Tokyo, was found dead on an apartment balcony in a bathtub full of sand. The suspected killer, Tatsuya Ichihashi, managed to evade police capture by living on the fringes of society for two and a half years. This is that utter bastard's story. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Lindsay Hawker Case - Media (J-E)
- Japan Times - Ichihashi given life
- Japan Times - Interview with Dean Fujioka
- IMDb - I Am Ichihashi
- Wikipedia - Nova
- Wikipedia - The Murder of Lindsay Hawker
We explore the links between the subcultures of Yankii, Bosozoku and Sukeban before watching an elderly Australian man dance in his driveway. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * Delinquent Anime Girl Guide by Worst Waifu * Sukeban Deka clip * Dazed Digital * Perspex * Vice * Groovy History * Next Shark * Vintage News Daily * Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno * TV Tropes: Japanese Delinquents * Gyaru Wikia * Gaijin Rider
This is the story of limitless human potential, reincarnation, Lord El Cantare, Atlantis and the ascension of business men to godhood. We look into the creation, beliefs and anime films of the Happy Science organisation. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * Vice * The Conversation * Anime Solstice * The Happy Science Website * Aum Shinrikyo: Insights Into How Terrorists Develop Biological and Chemical Weapons * Wikipedia
We look into the career of controversial mangaka and filmmaker Hideshi Hino, who was all about grindhouse, gore and horror. Aside from being one of the inspirations of Junji Ito, he was also tangled into controversy over fears that his artwork was more than it seemed... For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * IMDb * Wikipedia - Hideshi Hino * Wikipedia - Guinea Pig
No seriously, big content warning for human experimentation. We return to Manchuria as "Nasty Piss Boy" Shiro Ishii's human experimentation scales upwards. Then, we look at vested interest that several countries had in covering up these most heinous of crimes... For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * General Ishii Shiro: His Legacy is That of Genius and Madman * The Guardian * Unit 731: Testimony * Factories of Death * Wikipedia
No seriously, big content warning for human experimentation. The war crimes committed during the Second World War are heinous, but to forget them, to water down or justify them, is also unforgivable. This is our first exploration into the behaviour and mindset of the Japan during the first half of the 20th Century, and there's no more obvious place to start than Unit 731. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * General Ishii Shiro: His Legacy is That of Genius and Madman * The Guardian * Unit 731: Testimony * Factories of Death * Wikipedia
Content Warning: Suicide, Addiction, Child Abuse We return to the story of X Japan! Join us as we explore the possible reasons for hide's death, Toshi's departure from the totalitarian cult that had him brainwashed and the re-emergence of the greatest Visual Kei band of all time.
If you're interested, here's a link to a Spotify playlist of X Japan I made upon Kym's request!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0SrnzbdYjLrsjNOVCJxhSI
For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Times
- We Are X documentary by Stephen Kijak
- Visual Kei Wiki - hide
- Wikipedia
This episode is the first of two looking at the legendary Visual Kei band X Japan. We explore the birth of the band, the late 80s punk movement and the very strange mind of Yoshiki. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- The Times
- We Are X documentary by Stephen Kijak
- Visual Kei Wiki - hide
- Wikipedia
This episode is the second dive into life and times of Saigo Takamori. We look at how Takamori went from being the Emperor's greatest ally to enforcing laws that he himself once fought against. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * Japan Info * Encyclopedia Britannica * Nippon.com * National Geographic * Samurai Wiki * Wikipedia
This episode is the first of two looking at the life and times of Saigo Takamori, otherwise known as the Last Samurai (not Tom Cruise), and an enormous influence on Japan in the 19 and 20th Centuries. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * Japan Info * Encyclopedia Britannica * Nippon.com * National Geographic * Samurai Wiki * Wikipedia
This episode of Hikikomori is a DOOZY, covering the "Sada Abe Incident". I hope you like sex and blood you filthy animals. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: * All That's Interesting * Wikipedia * Murderpedia
This inaugural episode of Hikikomori is about two Nagasaki mayors separated by several decades, Hitoshi Motoshima and Iccho Itou, whose dramatic lives strangely echoed each other. For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode!
You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app.
Sources:
- Hitoshi Motoshima Obituary
- Japan Times - Iccho Itou Assassin to be Hung
- Wikipedia - Iccho Itou
- Wikipedia - Hitoshi Motoshima